Back in 2017, while I was completing my master’s degree, I had a wonderful class based on collaboration and using technology to optimize collaboration and knowledge sharing ((1) Unleashing the Power of Collaboration | LinkedIn).

Five years and a pandemic later, I wanted to revisit and refresh the guiding principles.

How might we go beyond Zoom and E-mail to empower teams to engage and be productive?

More than ever, we know that communication and collaboration are potentially complicated by a mostly hybrid setting. How might we challenge or restructure the traditional pre-Covid ways of communication (meetings and email messages) to engage collaboration – rather than causing meeting and email fatigue?

Here are the current, refreshed guiding principles, some based on current research and others based on survey of current hybrid working teams.

Embrace a collaborative community and asynchronous work model

This is #1 for many reasons, but most of all because I believe collective knowledge is a key to an organization’s competitive advantage. And, it just feels good. As team members work together, they create shared meaning in processes and practices.

This shared meaning is not easily transferrable – it is contained within the knowledge of how teams work together and solve problems. This knowledge is socially constructed and is an active, deliberate process. It is within social practice that teams co-create knowledge and co-create business deliverables.

Asynchronous is a relatively new term and means that people can work on their own schedules or time zones. Work does not need to occur at the same time to be effective, and we know our employees appreciate flexibility and our global teams inherently need to work at different times. The best model includes synchronous work for critical communications and topics or 1:1 or monthly meetings, while balancing with asynchronous, transparent project tasks and communication.

In 2022 – some of our constructed knowledge may reside in meeting minutes that do not make information usable, consumable or very transparent without a lot of effort. Not to mention, when was the last time you answered an email message that was already responded to by 2 or 3 people?

New tools like Microsoft Teams (including Channels and Planner), Trello, Slack, Monday and other project boards offer opportunities for clear project tracking, updated in real time, that allows visibility to all members. And, there seem to be newer tools every day! Tool selection may be based on your organization’s size or preferred business application suite.

Effective teams do not use email for team or project specific information – but instead update checklists, notes, dates, etc. in these project boards.

Value Transparency

Transparency is a stated key principle for many organizations, but in my experience, how organizations embrace and deliver on that transparency principle is variable. In a hybrid world, how might organizations provide transparency to their values?

Enterprise Social Networks such as Yammer, Sharepoint and others may be employed, but in a way that make these more than static words on a page.

How do we live the values in our hybrid culture? How can we create more transparency outside of meetings to build trust. This trust is critical to psychological safe environment for productivity and creativity. How many people are willing to share an out of the box idea in a low trust environment? Not many.

With an open environment of trust, communities can work from those ideas to formulate improved processes and products. It can inspire and empower employees to act on problem solving, knowledge creation and sharing. The broadening of transparency throughout the organization may require a culture shift to show its value. It may sound difficult, but dividends of transparency can be real.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable

Sharing ideas to a group (or a LinkedIn community), especially novel ones, requires strength, as no one wants to look weak. Digital tools allow us to share common lessons learned and ideas openly, and to iterate from others’ points of view to create a better product. But, it may take a little courage and a supportive environment. The more information that is shared openly (again, going back to a safe environment), the less likely repeat mistakes are made.

Access to information leads to learning which in turn allows teams to iterate more quickly. Mistakes may cause feelings of discomfort, but it is within this space of tension or conflict where learning occurs. To socialize knowledge is to learn collectively.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Raise questions in community. Share lessons openly. Co-create. This is extremely important for asynchronous work to be effective.

Engage leaders at all levels

Leader engagement throughout the organization is a common refrain, but what does it really mean? It means to have top down and bottom up processes for learning and idea sharing. It is way of working that levels the playing field for idea generation and input. Engagement can occur in multiple forms (see above).

We all have different experiences and ideas – let’s crowdsource for a variety of wonderful ideas. We may just find many hidden talents lurking within our communities.

Encourage communities of practice (CoP)

Too often work is completed within silos, but that is not necessarily the way it needs to be. Teams work on separate programs or products, but use similar processes. The ‘what’ may be different, but our ‘how’ and ‘why’ may be the same. I’ve worked with an organic CoP, and it was amazing. My team worked on separate programs in a very dynamic environment. We met together twice monthly to share experiences and process barriers. The CoP helped each other problem solve and share lessons in real time, so that these constraints did not inhibit the next team. A friend of mine suggested these teams create “Guideposts” for the next teams to learn from. It saves time, errors and frustration. It may be the best way to share learnings in a fast paced, productivity-based environment while allowing for innovation.

We should champion CoPs across organizations. Provide a format or platforms for such exchanges. Members of the CoP celebrate successes, have each other’s backs and work toward similar goals. They create knowledge together and it becomes culturally embedded and highly valued. Technology affords a CoP greater reach, and in a hybrid setting – it’s essential for preserving the explicit & tacit knowledge gained.

If you don’t have a CoP, create one. Test it out. It also is a great way to gain knowledge at all levels and increase engagement.

Create social capital

Admit it, sometimes, it would be really great to have the social connections like “that guy” in marketing. You know who he is. He knows everyone. But, in a hybrid world, even he needs to build social capital in a digital environment.

As an introvert, social connections and social capital have not always been easy for me to cultivate. I feel awkward. With the affordances of social media, the available contacts are quite visible and accessible. I can determine where I need more network diversity, and where I can leverage or provide connections for personal growth.

Don’t be afraid to grow your personal learning network. You never know when you can call upon it, or someone can leverage your knowledge. And literally, most people want to help each other.

Take a chance! Be a little more like ‘that guy’ in marketing.

Utilize the affordances of digital knowledge sharing

The affordances of digital knowledge sharing seem logical: visibility, metavoicing, searchability and network association. Let’s be honest, how often is the most recent document/process or conversation accessed on shared drives? How often are employees engaging in dialogue and adding content to meeting minutes? Project boards and other digital tools provide affordances to do these things in an open environment. Teams can maintain community channels to share experiences, tag others and allow new members to see threads of information and identify key contributors. An added bonus – these opportunities allow new and current members the opportunity to create Personal Learning Networks, to build social capital (Guiding Principle #6). These networks also add value to the organization.

There is value in creating network mentors to provide direction to newer members or members uncomfortable with technology platforms. Knowledge is transferred to newer members and through ongoing conversations (visible conversations). Introverts and extroverts alike, can share thoughts and opinions to increase knowledge sharing. With the evolution of enterprise social networking, such as Yammer or Jive, we can allow the exchange to include tacit and explicit knowledge in a searchable and archived format. We can build social capital and social practice within our organizations. Considering most companies I’ve worked for are global, this technology is critical to bring regions closer together and optimize asynchronous work.

Make equal time for introverts and extroverts

As a champion of introverts, I strongly encourage the use of digital tools (do we even have a choice now with hybrid teams?). They allows equal time and presence for introverts and extroverts to share experiences and be noticed for participation and value. Lurkers, those who passively participate can digest, reflect and gain information that can contribute for to benefit of the organization. Lurkers may become active, once they are confident and comfortable within the communities. An additional bonus, digital platforms provides a valuable forum for gaining insight from non-native English speakers, who may require a bit more time for processing and composing narratives.

 Employ social technology. Allow equal opportunity idea sharing! 

Use the Experience Map!

Last but certainly not least, was the realization that these digital tools are not merely plug and chug solutions. Throughout the creation of prototypes and storyboard solutions, it became clear that not all users see the solution similarly. Ask yourself:

• Who will use this channel, board, whiteboard, etc.?
• How might the users have different needs?
• What is critical for the project success?
• What are key parameters to measure and monitor?

The solution needs to consider the culture, process, people and structure of the organization. But, it also needs to consider each user, each generation and each business unit; each will have a different experience and expectation of the solution. To map this out when considering the prototype was a brilliant and necessary process.

A note to self: Experience Maps can be used for non-technical solutions, too. Take the time to make the map!

While reviewing this article from 2017, I see so much has changed, but the concepts of knowledge management and employee engagement have not. Even more in the hybrid environment, we need to optimize engagement and working connections for our employees.

We cannot minimize the importance of co-creating knowledge and learning as an organization.